1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to elections; extending availability of an appropriation for certain 
1.3 	optical scan voting equipment;amending Laws 2005, chapter 162, section 34, 
1.4 	subdivision 2.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Laws 2005, chapter 162, section 34, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subd. 2.Optical scan equipment. $6,000,000 is appropriated from the Help 
1.8 	America Vote Act account to the secretary of state for grants to counties to purchase 
1.9 	optical scan voting equipment. Counties are eligible for grants to the extent that they 
1.10 	decide to purchase ballot marking machines and as a result do not have sufficient Help 
1.11 	America Vote Act grant money remaining to also purchase a compatible precinct-based 
1.12 	optical scan machine or central-count machine. These grants must be allocated to counties 
1.13 	at a rate of $3,000 per eligible precinct until the appropriation is exhausted, with priority 
1.14 	in the payment of grants to be given to counties currently using hand- and central-count 
1.15 	voting systems and counties using precinct-count optical scan voting systems incompatible 
1.16 	with assistive voting systems or ballot marking machines. This appropriation is available 
1.17 	until June 30, 2009 2012.

1.18 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective June 30, 2009.